Suburban police leaders still aren t thrilled with the sweeping criminal justice reform bill signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in February, but they re feeling better about it after amendments were tacked on this week in the final moments of the spring legislative session.
Posted5/7/2021 5:20 AM
The deadliest threat facing law enforcement officers across the country over the past year hasn t been armed criminals, high-speed pursuits or reckless drivers crashing into patrol vehicles.
It s been COVID-19.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 297 officers including nine in Illinois have died after contracting the virus as a result of their duties. That s nearly 200 more than all other causes combined over the same time frame.
But despite those sobering statistics, police officers nationwide have been slow to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report this week in The Washington Post. Although police were among the first with access, less than 40% of officers in several major-city departments New York, Atlanta and Phoenix among them have received even one dose, the Post reported. That compares to nearly 57% of adults nationwide, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted4/9/2021 5:30 AM
When Katherine Wargo picks up the phone at work, she never knows exactly what s on the other end of the call. But there is one thing she can count on: The caller is experiencing one of the most difficult moments of their life. They re seeing things that they never thought they would see or experiencing things that they never thought would happen to them, Wargo told us. And so just answering the phone, having somebody who is calm, cool, collected, who you know is going to get you help . you hear (relief) instantly in their voice.
Wargo is a 911 emergency dispatcher at the Arlington Heights-based Northwest Central Dispatch System. The center handles an average of 1,677 calls per day for 22 police and fire departments in the Northwest suburbs.
Coroner IDs Man, 39, Killed In Lake Zurich Crash - Lake Zurich, IL - A car collided with two electric boxes and a brick wall on East Main Street early Monday, authorities said.
Updated 1/15/2021 9:08 AM
No cash bail. No promise of state funding to help pay for and operate mandatory body cameras. No accusers names on misconduct complaints against police officers, and no sworn affidavits supporting them.
No good.
That s some suburban law enforcement leaders assessment of a sweeping criminal justice bill passed Wednesday by the Illinois General Assembly and now awaiting the signature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Police leaders we spoke to this week say they welcome much-needed reforms but that the legislation passed this week makes officers jobs more difficult, and it ll be communities that suffer as a result. We re disheartened by what occurred, said Crystal Lake Chief James Black, who s also president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. We will continue to move forward and we will obviously work to make sure that we are in compliance with the provisions of the state statute, but I just think that, unfortunately, it s going to be our com